Block floor section



Feb. 8, 1938. B. P. BRIEN I BLOCK FLOOR SECTION Fiid Jan. 21, 1936 F q-l INVENT OR.

is X PfYTO/V BRIE/L,

ATTORNEY.

. reamed F b. 8,1938

particularly to; improvements in block floor sec- .tions'; and for maintaining such floors in their ;.ass'embledrelation.

s Ithas been the practice intheprior mm assemlble severalblocks togetherby a splineor strip into a small section, then assemblesuchsections j into a iloor. by. tongue and groovel'connectionsll I Such" a -structure is disclosed in, the patent to and'c'ausing great difiiculty in laying it.

' '0 Other instances in the prior art where problems of )this character arise are'in the cases where built upfrom. pieces. In order to give a proper design this fiooring is laid so, that the'longi- :;"tudina1 axis of corresponding pieces: in adjacent blocks are atright angles to each other.- Inasmuch as such pieces tend to warp 'and spread more transversely thanlongitudinally, some .blocks .will extend beyondthe section line to give 3 :an-uneven or broken line and render it difii-' partsinassembled relation,-while the patents to;

I Goehst'662,376 and Larkins, "1,801,093, disclose splines for holding the individual blocks in as.-

sembled relation. However, these patents only disclose the use of splines orstrips where they do not giverise to. the problems of individual block flooring, except where these blocks in the later 'citedpatents are laid as a part of a floor. This v of course raises theproblems forthere is nothing 7 tending to keep the-blocks in line and in addition all-of the problems ofth'e'Parsons patent, supra,

'50 are injected in a more marked degree. d

f @A recognitionof some. of these problems has existed in bar flooring where an attempt was madejby' MIOkOWSki in Patent Number 966,347, to secure-sections ofv bar flooring together by wires 5 foripreventing their relative displacement after UNITED "STATES BLock FLOOR SECTION BaileyPeytonBrien, ohamhe gs, Tenn. 7 'minimumJ nusr m; mess-s1 No; 60,087 r. a I 6 Clain 1s. (01.2mm Y .My invention relates to block floors and more I PATENT" OFFICE laying. Such an arrangement is not satisfactory,

however,- for the wires are easily loosened from the bars and permit spreading. Furthermore there is no feasible way of disposing the bars within the bars, and finally such sections cannot '5 be altered by saw because of inevitable injury. ,With a knowledgeof the defects in and objections to the prior art, I have, as an object of my invention the provision of a block floor made in 'laid'sections .and reinforced by splines or strips 10 I extending throughout the length of such sections and seated in dove tail recesses in the alined blocksof such sections.

Another object of my invention is to pro- "vide a. block flooring laid in sections, each section comprising a plurality of blocks built up from pieces, said'blocks being so related that the longi tudinal axis of corresponding pieces in; adjacent blocks are at right angles to each other, and splines or strips seated in grooves in said blocks I for preventing their relative displacement. blockfioo'ring formed by a pluralityof blocks are A further object of my invention is to provide a section of block flooring comprising a plurality of blocks built up from pieces,said pieces and blocks being joined together by dovetail tongues and grooves, and splines or strips seated in dove tail slots in said blocks and extending the full length of the section to prevent relative displacement of said blocks and pieces due to the efiect of weather and, usage. 7 V

A still further object of my invention is to provide a section of block flooring comprising a plurality of blocks built up from pieces and all joined together. by dove tail tongues and grooves,

and splines or strips for maintaining the blocks in assembled position. Plain tongue and groove means is provided around the entire outer edge of the section for quick and "easy assembly with others of the same character to form'a floor.

Other objects and advantages of my invention 40 :will appear in the following specification, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the annexed claims. r. Figure 1 shows a plan View of two blocks of a section; Figure 2 shows an end view of a block comprised in the section. Figure 3 shows a side view of two blocks of a section. Figure 4 shows an end view of a section (cross-section) of a block: with the pieces thereof in unassembled relation. Figure 5 shows a floor made up of blocks laid in sections.

In the drawing'numerals I to 6, inclusive, designate a section of block flooring embodying the preferred form of my invention. 1 and 8 ,designate splines or strips seated in dove tail fgroove formed in one side of each blockof the assembled relation;

numerals l2, l3, and it designate pieces of an individual block Whose axes areperpendicular to the axis of the. section. it designates aplain section to receive a plain tongue on the adjacent section, and I! indicates a plain tongue running along the full length of the other side of' the section for a similar purpose. i8, i9, 2|, ZZ'de-signate dove tail tongues on the pieces for seating in corresponding grooves in adjacent pieces whereby the individual blocks are maintained in an adjacent block whereby the blocks of theses- Wide, however, the invention is not limited to such. In the assembled section odd blocks have,

.tion are secured together.

The floor is assembled in-the following manner:

The individual blocks are made by assembling .the'pieces so that the dovetail tongue on one piece is seated in thedove tail groove oithe mating-piece. .As shown each block comprises/three pieces, but this invention isnot to be construed as limited to three pieces for it is recognized that any number-may be used. Then the individual. V blocks are assembled to form a section many blocks long but-preferably. only a single block 7 the longitudinal axis of the pieces in parallel relation and at right angles to the longitudinal axes the section; are secured together by interlocking dove tail tongue and groove connections.

When a plurality of blocks are assembled in this manner and are properly alined to form a section the bottom surface of which contains, one

or more dove tail grooves extending the full length of the section and crossing each block. Splines; or strips] and 3 are disposed Within'thesegrooves.

The ieflect of these splines or stripswill be apparent upon reference to Figures 1 and 5.

If thesplines or strips werenot present blocks 1, 3 and 5 of the section would tend "to warp, expand or be displaced due to the action of temperature'and weather upon them. They would spread more along the transverse axes of the pieces than the blocks 2, 4, and 6 would expand along the longitudinal axes of their pieces. would result in a section formedof broken lines and would render it impossible to lay a smooth and even floor. Theaction ofspli'nes or strips 1 and 8 is to prevent relative movement or spreading between the bloc rs of .thesection, and results in a section presenting a straight line its entire length. This makes it possible to build up and eliminate finishing after it has been laid with all the resulting dirt and inconvenience.

In the absence of sections formed in this manner, the floor must be formed by building up the sembled or after assembly results in an imperfe'ctly fitted and ill constructed floor. Often 26 designates a dove tail tongue for cooperation with a mating groove in great cracks are apparent in the flooror sections are out of line spoiling thewholeeffectand ad-- vantages of block flooring. The use of splines or strips in the manner indicated. permits the flooring to be laid on rough subliooring in much the same manner as strip flooring. Suchcon- V struction also maintains'the desired symmetry and overcomes the tendency of cracks to form in the floor after laying. I a

After the section has been assembledjitis to be noted that'its entire outer e dge or. circumference is'formed with a plain tongue and gr'oove.

This permits the assemblyof one section ata timebyquickly correlating the plain tongueand' In this manner grooves of mating sections. Whole sections are made'at the plantwhere great precision can be obtained; Strips made in this manner; may be easily cut to any desired length or shape by the ordinaryhand saw, and such operation will in no way effect or injure theremaining part of thesection. 'It is seenthat the spline or strip does not act a to hold th'eblockstogether, for this. is afccom-: a plished by the dove tail tongues and grooves ofthe blocks and their pieces, but their functions are to maintain theblocks in positionandprevent relative movement. a

It is also seen" thatblock flooring maybe laid on screeds or joice when assembled in sections with splines or strips just as inthe case. of strip 4 This greatly increases the utility pi M such flooring.

Having thus escribedmy invention, I claim 1. A'block fioorincluding a section,'saidsection I comprising aplurality of alined blocks, .means" for securing said sectionto another section, additional means for securing the-blocks; of said sec tion together, and means extending substantially L the full length of said section whereby to prevent 7 relative displacement between said'blocks.

2;.In-a preformed floor section comprisingfa plurality of alined blocks in end 'to'end relationforming a section, each of said blocks including a plurality of pieces, tongue and groove-mcans for;

securing said pieces together, tongueand groove means seated in said blocks and extending substantially the length ofsaid sectionwhereby to Y 7 prevent relative movement betweensaidblocks. 3. A preformed floor section comprising, a plurality of alined blocks forming a section, each of saidblocksv including a pluralityof pieces, the longitudinal axes of the pieces in the odd blocks being parallel and at right angles to the longitudinal axes of the pieces in the even blocks,

dove tail tongue and groove means for securing ,means for securing said blocks together, and strip r the blocks together, and 'a plurality of strips seated in saldblocksand extendingsubstantially the length of, the section whereby to maintain the blocks infassembled positionat all times" 4. A preformed floor section comprising, -a

plurality of alined blocks forminga sectionof one block widtlndove tail tongueand groove means ior securing said blocks together, spline means seated in said blocks and. extending substanetially the full length of said section for prevent ing relative displacement of said blocks, and tongue and groove means on said sectionwhereby .to'facilitate quick assembly with similar; sections.

5. A preformed floor-section comprising,- a plurality of alined blocks forming asectiomfeach dove tail tongue and groove means for securingthe blocks together, dove tail grooves in the bottom surface of each of said blocks extending substantially the 'full length of the section, and

strips seated in said grooves for preventing spreading and other displacement of any of said I blocks. r

6. A blook of the character described, comprising a plurality of pieces inside by side relation,

dove tail tongue and groove means on the adjacent edges of the cooperating pieces for securing 

